Beach Users’ Perceptions Toward Beach Quality and Crowding: A Comparative Study Among Top Beaches in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada District

Abstract

This Paper focuses on beach users’ perceptions toward beach quality aspects and crowding as well as investigating beach users’ preferred activities and their motivations to choose different beaches in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada District. In recent years, the scope of beach management practices has broadened although; a complementary bottom-up perspective that considers beach users’ preferences and demands is still missing. A case study was carried out at Top 10 beaches on the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada district. Beach users’ perceptions were collected by means of a questionnaire and samples were selected randomly. In this study, beach quality was analyzed in four different aspects: (1) physical and morphological,(2) environmental, (3) facility and safety and (4) landscape and design. Along with beach quality, Beach users’ perception towards crowding was analyzed. In SPSS Cross Tab technique used to make comparative study between 10 beaches.